Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka is located in Tewatta near Ragama. Considered the only basilica in the country, it was consecrated on 6 February 1974.
Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka B asilica of Our Lady of Lanka , also known as Tewatta Palliya (Sinhala: ලංකා අප ස්වාමිදුවගේ බැසිලිකාව, රාගම තේවත්ත පල්ලිය; Tamil: லங்கா மாதா பேராலயம்), is a Roman Catholic basilica located in Tewatta near Ragama in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. Considered the only basilica in the country, its feast is celebrated on the Sunday closest
to the 4th of February (Gunawardena, 2003; Jayasinghe, 2015). History The history of this church runs back to the beginning of the 20th century. It is said that a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes (Mary Immaculate) was erected in 1911 by a few Catholic laymen and Fr. A. Kieger as a part of the parish of Ragama at that time. On 11 November 1917 another pastor, Fr. A. Collore is said to have built a small Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes with the assistance received from some Catholic workers in Colombo. After gaining more popularity among Catholics, the chapel was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims who visited the site. World Wa…
